


Sun Spirit Zuko - Backstory

by venomous_syfy



Series: Sun Spirit Zuko (Original AU) [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Original, Character Death, Digital Art, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Not Really Character Death, Sun Spirit Zuko (Avatar), Sympathetic Azula (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko (Avatar)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25375960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venomous_syfy/pseuds/venomous_syfy
Summary: Ursa is unable to posion Azulon fast enough. Her deal is broken with her husband. Her son is lost.Or... maybe he isn't.Alternatively- Ozai is an ass who kills his own son. Luckily, the Spirits decide to answer Ursa's prayers.
Relationships: Agni & Zuko (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Ozai/Ursa (Avatar), Tui & Yue (Avatar), Yue & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Sun Spirit Zuko (Original AU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837651
Comments: 10
Kudos: 331





	Sun Spirit Zuko - Backstory

**Author's Note:**

> TW(s) - Major Character Death, child abuse (if anything else needs tagged, please lmk)
> 
> Part one of a series. Will not be an entire fanfic. Please do not do anything with this concept unless you change a lot- this is my own au and I will be writing and drawing things for it.
> 
> Do not repost my work or drawings.

Zuko was yanked out of bed and dragged from his room by his sister. In a tired moment of panic, he tried to get away from her, but she rolled her eyes and grabbed him by his shoulders.

“It’s your sister, idiot!” She hissed. Zuko’s eyes focused and he realized that it was, in fact, just his sister. He calmed down a bit, but looked around the castle and squinted.

“Why did you drag me out of bed so late?” He asked. 

“Dad wanted me to come and get you. Something happened to Grandpa- he told me that he needed you, not me.” Azula replied, sounding a little jealous. Zuko was confused.

“Why would Dad need me…?” He asked himself. Azula shrugged.

“Now come on- he told me to come to Grandpa’s throne room.” Zuko followed after his little sister carefully, trying to keep his footing whenever he almost tripped over things in the dark hallways. Not long after, they got into the throne room, where Ozai was waiting for them. Ursa was nowhere to be seen, but Azulon was sitting on the throne and watching carefully. 

“Thank you, Azula,” Ozai said, earning a bright smile from his daughter. “You may return to your room now- I just need your brother for this.” Azula looked a little disappointed at this, but nodded, gave a small bow to her father, and let go of her brother’s hand and started to walk away.

“Before you go,” Azulon suddenly spoke up, causing Azula to stop in her tracks. “Say goodbye to your brother. It would be good to do so.” Azula was a little confused by this but nodded anyway. Zuko was getting more anxious by the moment. 

“Of course, Grandfather,” Azula said, turning around again to face Zuko. “Goodbye, Zu-Zu!” She gave him a bright, slightly terrifying smile, before turning and walking off again. Zuko felt a bit more scared than he did before without her in the room but did the proper bow to greet his Grandfather.

“Have I done something wrong? Azula didn’t give me any explanation for why I’m here,” Zuko said, glancing up at his father, who did not look happy. 

“No,” Azulon said. “It is not your fault for what is going to happen, child. This is your father’s punishment.” Zuko looked confused at this.

“What do you mean?” Azulon did not reply- just looked at his son. A ring of fire suddenly surrounded both Zuko and Ozai, making it impossible for either of them to leave. Ozai’s hands lit aflame as he looked at Zuko. Zuko looked scared, but did not move- he knew that the ring of fire was there to have him stay put, or else there would be consequences. 

\-------------------------------------

Azula watched through the curtains, staying low and quiet to not alert anyone that she was there. She could just barely see what was going on through the flames- and when she realized what was happening, her eyes widened slightly. She backed up and started to run to get her mother, just as she heard Zuko’s first scream. Not far away from the throne room did she find Ursa, who was rushing towards the room.

“Azula!” She said, kneeling down to Azula’s height. Azula looked legitimately scared for once in her life. “Are you okay?” Azula nodded. “Is there any way we can get into the throne room?”

“There’s fire blocking the entrance- what’s going on?! Is Dad actually going to _kill_ Zuzu?! I thought he was just kidding!” Tears welled in Azula’s eyes. Ursa closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again, gently brushing Azula’s hair out of her face. Another scream was heard, but it was fainter, due to them being further away.

“Zuko will be okay,” She said finally, her voice quiet. “I want you to get out of here. Go somewhere else. Go- go with Mai or Ty Lee, and don’t tell them what’s happening here. I’ll send someone to come get you when this is all over, okay? I love you, sweetheart.” Ursa pressed a kiss to Azula’s forehead before standing up again. “Go.” Azula hesitated before nodding, running off down the hallway in the opposite direction that Ursa was going.

\-------------------------------------

Zuko fell to the ground, barely breathing. His vision was blurry, he was sobbing, and every inch of his body was in tremendous amounts of pain. He could feel the blistering burns forming on the left half of his body. The burns were so severe that he could barely move, yet they hardly touched the right side of him. The biggest part that caused him the most pain was the area the lightning hit him- right in the chest. It hurt him just to breathe- he was dying, he knew that. He couldn’t bring himself to get up. He was exhausted. 

When the world around him started to go dark, he started getting even more scared. He couldn’t leave the world, not yet. He had to be there for his sister, he had to be there for his Uncle when he returned home. Yet he was unable to stay conscious, falling into what he hoped would just be a deep sleep.

His eyes opened again quickly, and he found himself in a dark room. His vision was still blurred slightly, but as they adjusted to the darkness, he quickly realized that it wasn’t a room he was in- in fact, he wasn’t inside at all. Once his eyes adjusted fully, the world around him lit up and grew to look peaceful. There were many animals running around, most of which he had never seen before. The ground below him was pale grass, which was very soft to the touch, he came to realize, seeing as he was laying right on it. The sky above him was a bright, vibrant blue with clouds passing through, yet there was no sun nor moon in sight. 

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Zuko could feel no pain anymore. He looked down at his arm, expecting to see fresh burns, but there were only scars where burns had once been. He reached up to touch his face, expecting to feel a fresh burn, yet there was only a scar. He was confused and surprised. He got to his feet, hesitating. There were trees around, too, and he noticed a lake in the distance, where a white-haired girl was sitting, looking into the lake as though she were trying to contact something or someone.

Zuko thought for a moment- he could go over to her and ask where they were, but she probably wouldn’t know, either. She looked younger than he did- maybe 11, 12 at best. The girl suddenly looked up from the water, her striking blue eyes looking right at Zuko.

“How did you get here?” She asked, standing up and making her way over to him. Despite the fact that they were rather far away from one another, it sounded as though she were whispering in his ear, and it made him shudder.

“I… I don’t know,” Zuko admitted, hesitating. The girl stood in front of him, her eyes carefully looking over him. She hesitated for a moment before bringing a hand up and placing it on his newly scarred chest. A bright, amber light came from the scar, and the girl yelped, jumping backward. Zuko felt a shock of pain from it, yet it disappeared almost as instantly as it came. The girl stared at him, eyes wide.

“You’re… you’re being blessed by Agni.” She said, almost breathlessly.

“What?” Zuko asked, looking down. The light had disappeared, though Zuko now realized that there was a pale, see through glow encasing his scars. He tried to get rid of it, but it didn’t budge. “Who are you?” He questioned the girl finally, panic rising in him. The girl looked embarrassed, messing with her hair.

“I’m so sorry, how foolish of me. I’m Princess Yue- I’ve been blessed by Tui. Tui saved my life when I was just a baby- so, it is my duty to save her life if things ever come to that.” Zuko looked confused.

“So- you’re a princess? And you like… _are_ the Moon Spirit?” Yue smiled slightly.

“Yes, and no. I am not Tui. I am the future replacement for Tui if anything happens to her.” Zuko slowly nodded. “May I ask who you are?”

“Oh, uh… I’m Prince Zuko. Sorry- also, how old are you? You’re super formal- it’s kinda weird.”

“I’m 12.” 

“Oh. So am I.” Zuko hesitated. “You said I’m being blessed by Agni- what does that mean?” Yue bit her lip.

“I’m afraid that it means you died. But, the positive side is, someone saw you dying and didn’t want you to! So, they prayed to Agni for you- and, I guess Agni saw something in you… and, he has decided to help you by giving you part of his life force. I think. That what Tui said she did for me.” Zuko stared.

“I… I died? No- no, that’s not possible. I- I can’t have.” He fell to the ground, pulling a leg to his chest and running his hand through his hair, staring at the ground. “That’s impossible. I didn’t do anything wrong- I shouldn’t have died for nothing!” Before Yue could answer, a feminine voice rang out from the lake. A glowing, white figure appeared, though it didn’t appear to be feminine nor masculine. 

“ **Little moondust** ,” The figure said. “ **We must leave him be. I am sure you will meet again in the future, but the Sun and Moon are not to be around one another for very long. Come with me, I will send you home.** ” Yue nodded.

“Okay, Tui!” She said. She looked back at Zuko, hesitating. “I hope to see you again, Prince Zuko.” She did a small, traditional water tribe bow. “Bye!” With that, she ran off, walking right into the opened arms of Tui, both disappearing instantly. Zuko looked around frantically, quickly getting up again and going over to the lake. There was no sign of either of them, though there were two fish circling one another. 

“I don’t know what’s going on!” He cried out, but there were no reactions from the fish. They just continued to circle each other. 

“ **I am sorry, my little spark.** ” A masculine voice rang out. Zuko spun around, seeing a glowing yellow figure walking towards him. “ **But what Tui’s little moondust had said is the truth. You have died, but there is no room to worry.** ” The figure gently placed a hand on Zuko’s face. The figure was blurry- no features were able to be made out, other than the fact that it had a mouth and was the source of the voice. “ **I am going to give you a part of my life force, and you will be able to return home. If you ever need me, you will know how to find me, I assure you. If I am ever in danger, I am relying on you to either protect me or give up your own life for mine. Am I understood, little spark?** ” Zuko hesitated. He normally would have been scared, but there was something just so… warm and inviting about this figure. Zuko was sure this was Agni. 

“Yes, Agni.” Zuko breathed out. It was almost like he hadn’t wanted to speak, yet words came out. Agni nodded. 

“ **Good. Your mother is a very loving soul- you should thank her when you return. It was her prayers that I answered. I see something in you, little spark. You have great potential. You may return whenever you are ready. You just have to wake up.** ” Zuko nodded slightly. Agni suddenly disappeared out of thin air, and Zuko closed his eyes. The world around him faded, and he felt like he was falling, the rush of air running past him, until suddenly his eyes were opening again.

**Author's Note:**

> Spare kudos and comments? Please? And maybe shares? I dunno... I like seeing what people think of my work :D


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